Hand-propelled child&#39;s vehicle



June 17, 1969 J. H. MULDER HAND-PROPELLED CHILD'S VEHICLE Filed Aug. 21, 1967 FIG.2

United States Patent 3,450,416 HAND-PROPELLED CHILDS VEHICLE Jelke H. Mulder, Bankstown, New South Wales, Australia, assignor to Albert Koster, Hendrik M. Koster, Machiel H. Koster, and John J. Vreeling, all of Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia Filed Aug. 21, 1967, Ser. No. 662,082 Claims priority, application Australia, Aug. 31, 1966, 10,453/ 66 Int. Cl. B62m 1/14 U.S. Cl. 280211 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to wheeled chairs, carriages or the like particularly adapted to safely seat children of tender years and be manually propelled by their users.

Many wheeled toys are known for example simultations of four-wheeled cars, crank driven trolleys, scooters, tricycles and bicycles.

These toys generally involve a degree of physical skill and coordination beyond that expected of children of tender years, say between 3 to 7 years old.

It is further to be noted that parents of young children, not infrequently purchase mobile toys of the kind indicated, which toys are inherently hazardous since they call for physical skills and judgement beyond the ordinary expectation for children of tender years.

The primary object of the present invention is to overcome the foregoing and other disadvantages of known mobile toys by providing such toys which are adapted to safe handling by children of tender years.

A further object of the invention is to provide such toys of relatively economical cost suited to the financial circumstances of parents of young children.

Another object is to provide mobile toys of the kind indicated having a low centre of gravity and consequent stability and suited for easy manoeuvreability within the confines of a home.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be made apparent in the following description.

A wheeled childrens toy having a low centre of gravity in accordance with the present invention comprises a framework including a seat and footrest between side supports, the said framework being supported by hand operable side wheels and a following castor wheel.

The invention is now more fully described with reference to one preferred embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a wheeled chair or carriage; and

FIGURE. 2 is a side elevated view of the chair or carriage illustrated in FIGURE 1.

In this embodiment, the frame 1 is formed of tubular steel having its opposite longitudinal sides bent upwardly to achieve attachment of the disc wheels 5 to their stub axles 6 which are anchored to the frame 1.

A tubular seat supporting member 2 longitudinally bisects the frame 1 and extends below the frame so as to accommodate a seat 3 between its seat supporting member 2 and the under surface of the frame. Toward the end of the seat supporting member one or more footrests 4, 4 are located. The footrests are formed of tubular steel and welded to the seat supporting members and preferably are capped at their extremities to avoid injurious projections. The caps are advantageously formed of resilient natural or synthetic material moulded to fit the selected tubing size.

At its rearward end the seat supporting member 2, is flattened and upturned to provide a castor-wheel supporting bracket 9 which is apertured to admit and pivotably retain the upright stern of a castor wheel.

The side wheels 5 are provided with hand grips 7 retained on and turnable about their supporting shafts 8.

If desired the seat 3 may be provided with a back rest (not shown in the drawings).

A user of a wheeled toy in accordance with the invention sits on the seat 3 with feet on a footrest and manoeuvres the equipment by imparting a rotation to the side wheels. When both wheels are rotated in phase and in the same direction, the equipment moves either forward or backward. Wheels turned in opposite directions produce any desired change in direction of movement or the equipment can be caused to rotate in the one spot.

The relative height and size of the side wheels provide a safe support for a user of the applicants equipment and the low center of gravity precludes any possibility of a user being able to overturn the equipment whatever manoeuvre is attempted.

In the preferred embodiment the tubular steel framework and footrest support are formed of non-corrodable steel alloys or chromium plated, permitting ready cleansing of the equipment. It will also be noted that the preferred construction is devoid of projections or corners against which a child may injuriously impinge or which would damage household furniture if the toy should be impelled against said furniture.

I claim:

1. A toy vehicle, comprising in combination a frame having substantially parallel side member which are upwardly bent, a pair of support wheels, means rotatably mounting said support wheels one to each of said side members and with their axes of rotation in alignment with eac hother, a castor wheel, means connecting said castor wheel to said frame rearwardly of said support wheels for pivotal movement about a vertical axis, a seat secured to the frame adjacent said castor wheel, a foot rest secured to said frame at a location forwardly of said seat, a stubshaft secured to each of said support wheels adjacent the outer periphery thereof and extending inwardly in the direction toward the other support wheel, and a hand grip member rotatably disposed on each of said stubshafts, so that an infant seated on said seat and having his feet supported on said footrest is able to propel and steer the vehicle by rotating the support wheels by means of said hand grips.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 71,562 11/1867 Way 280242 142,285 8/1873 Scott 280249 2,548,749 4/1951 Stout 280259 2,616,725 11/ 1952 East 280211 2,795,422 6/ 1957 Bartlett 280211 X 2,869,686 1/ 1959 Glanz. 3,306,627 2/1967 Goto 280-259 KENNETH H. BETTS, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 280249 

